


melting away gradually

by TrainRush



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [17]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Gen, Mild Gore, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29526399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrainRush/pseuds/TrainRush
Summary: DAY 17: ALT 2: “i can’t lose you too”How funny that so much can happen in so little time.—(or, alternatively, an accident on set brings out a different side of the Conductor.)
Relationships: The Conductor & DJ Grooves (A Hat in Time)
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2105115
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	melting away gradually

Everything happened so quickly.

First, it was a call from the other side of the studio. An abnormally large group of the Conductor’s owls had approached him and told him that apparently, the Moon Penguins were frantically calling for help. When he asked  _ why,  _ the owls had told him that they weren’t sure. The penguins talked over each other, each just as scared as the last. They were unintelligible as they spoke.

Next, a couple penguins approached the Conductor on their own, no longer communicating through his owls. As soon as they did, the Conductor understood what his owls had meant when they said they couldn’t understand them. They were each talking so fast, their voices overlapping and forming a discordant mess. The Conductor had to yell over them to get them to quiet down and talk slower. It was then that they finally explained what had happened.

During filming, a large, glass disco ball prop had fallen and smashed right on top of DJ Grooves. They explained that while he wasn’t dead, his injuries were bad, almost looking fatal.

Now, the Conductor panicked. After clarifying with the penguins that they had in fact dialed emergency services, he sprinted to the other side of the studio, ordering his owls to stay behind. The last thing he wanted was for them to get involved. He especially didn’t need them seeing Grooves in… whatever state he was in now. He let a Moon Penguin show him the way to their set, something he never thought he’d do in a million years. But he supposed desperate times called for desperate measures. Or perhaps desperate interactions, in this case.

As they walked — or, more accurately, speed-walked — to the set, the Conductor silently prayed that everything would be alright. A specific feeling of terrified hopelessness had hit him, in that moment; he couldn't let DJ Grooves die. He  _ couldn’t  _ die.

When they finally reached the set, after a long, tense walk, the Conductor felt his heart stop.

The Moon Penguins had not been exaggerating. Not one bit.

The shards from the shattered disco ball were scattered all across the stage which DJ Grooves had been standing on. Each shard was different in both size and shape, but each had equally sharp edges. Some were coated in splattered blood. Some had feathers and even bits of flesh stuck to them. The scene was gruesome, with blood splattered and pooling all around DJ Grooves’s unconscious body. Oh, lord, his  _ body.  _ Glass stuck from many of his wounds, some making long scratches on his sides. Blood dripped from his head and down his face, which was stricken with pain.

If he were still alive like the Moon Penguins had said, he was  _ very  _ lucky.

Which, he was, as shown by his slow breathing.

After a short moment of being completely stunned in place, the Conductor rushed towards the scene.

How had that blow to the head not killed him? Judging by the amount of glass scattered around, that disco ball must have been heavy. The head trauma should have done much more than knock him out, at least. If he survived, he was going to be in recovery for a very long time.

If?

No, he was going to survive. He had to. Because… if he didn’t…

The Conductor didn’t want to think about it. Carefully, he approached the stage, climbing up and looking over DJ Grooves and his injuries.

“Oh, no…” he muttered, feeling a sickness bubble in his throat as the scent of metallic blood reached him. He turned away for a moment to mentally prepare himself before walking over to Grooves, being careful not to step on any glass. He stopped a little away from where the director’s unconscious body laid, to not step in any blood.

He knelt down. “Can you hear me, Grooves?”

There was no response.

The Conductor stepped just a little bit closer, gently taking hold of DJ Grooves’s wing to check for a pulse. Relieved to feel his heart beating, the Conductor reached out and carefully held Grooves’s face in the palm of his hand.

“Hey, wake up. You can’t fall asleep now, alright?” The Conductor did his best to hide the panic in his voice.

Relief flooded him when he noticed Grooves’s face twitch. He reached out to wipe a bit of blood from reaching the other’s eyes so that he could open them.

“I need you to stay awake, okay? You can’t fall asleep. I… don’t know what will happen if you do.”

The Conductor could see DJ Grooves’s eyes open just slightly to look at him, the neon lights from the stage reflected in melted silver irises.

“I—“ His voice was pained.

“Don’t speak. Save your breath. You’ll be okay. The paramedics will be here soon.” The Conductor didn’t want to take his eyes away from Grooves, almost as if he would disappear if he looked away for too long. “You need to stay awake,” he repeated.

Grooves closed his eyes a little, but suddenly, as if out of pain.

“Stay with me, okay? Focus on your breathing. I know it’ll be hard, but try your best, please.”  _ Your life depends on it. _

The Conductor paused, noticing a particularly large gash on Grooves’s side. He called out to behind him, requesting a cloth of some kind to try and block the bleeding. A couple penguins scurried away.

When he looked back, he noticed Grooves was slipping away again. He put his hand back to the other’s face, gently startling him back awake.

“Please,” the Conductor said, looking him in the eyes. “Try your best, okay? Maybe— maybe keep a rhythm of some kind? In your mind, of course, to help your breathing. That’s what you’re good at, right? I believe in you, Grooves.”

Grooves almost cracked a smile, but winced immediately. At the same time, a couple Moon Penguins returned to him with a thick cloth. 

“This may hurt, but stay with me, okay?” the Conductor explained shortly before folding the cloth and pressing it into the gash. As expected, the other hissed sharply, eyes slamming shut in pain. “Stay with me,” the Conductor muttered again.

Grooves’s breathing slowed again as the pain pushed him into unconsciousness. The Conductor swore to himself, turning to the Moon Penguins and yelling for how much longer it would take. After hearing a hurried “any minute now,” he turned his attention back to DJ Grooves.

“Please…” the Conductor whispered. “Wake up. I need you to wake up!” His voice slowly rose from a whisper as his words stacked.

Grooves’s eyes cracked open slightly again, apparently having not completely slipped unconscious beforehand.

“God, don’t scare me like that again, okay? I’m just trying to help block the flow of blood. You need to stay awake. You’ll be able to sleep any minute now. You’re going to be okay. Just stay awake this last minute or so…”

The weight of the situation suddenly tumbled down upon the Conductor. Here, his lifelong rival was bleeding out on the ground. And here he was, doing his absolute best to help keep him alive. His lifelong rival: a former friend, a person who cared for him… the  _ only  _ person who cared for him… a person he couldn’t bear to lose.

“I can’t lose you,” the Conductor whispered, overcome by emotion. “I can’t lose you too.”

DJ Grooves stared at him quietly with half-asleep eyes. His expression communicated that he could barely even process what the other was saying. The Conductor didn’t care. If his words even had a chance to be heard, he would say them.

“I’ve lost so much, Grooves; I can’t lose you too.”

A Moon Penguin burst through a far door and said something the Conductor couldn’t hear past his heart pounding in his ears.

“Don’t let me lose you.”

Grooves looked away from the Conductor, eyes closing a little.

“Please don’t fall asleep, the—“

Finally, what the Moon Penguin had said registered in his mind as he heard unfamiliar voices enter the room.

The paramedics had arrived.  _ So Grooves could process that much, huh? _

The Conductor rose up from where he had knelt, barely paying mind to how his legs ached like hell. He backed away, making room for a few birds to lift DJ Grooves’s body from the ground and onto a stretcher. They acted so quickly, he was gone before anyone could say a word. The Conductor took a long, shuddering breath. Would that be the last time he’d ever see Grooves alive? He didn’t want to try and answer that question. His fears overwhelmed him too much to do that.

He looked around, seeing Moon Penguins looking at him from every direction. The realization settled, then, that they’d all just seen a side of him he’d never shown anyone before.

“If any of you tell a single soul about what just happened back there,” the Conductor started, putting back on his normal tone, “I’ll have you fired as soon as I get the word. Understand?”

The Moon Penguins nodded and turned away, terrified.

The Conductor nodded firmly before turning for the door to exit the set.

He was going to have to lay down for a bit.


End file.
